Music to his ears
Lindisfarne College student wins Young Musician of the Year award
Pianist Quinn Le Lievre has been named Hawke’s Bay Young Musician of the Year 2021. He was presented with his award following the YMY 2021 concert at the Blyth Performing Arts Centre on Friday evening.
Kimbali Harding, head of performing arts at Hastings Girls’ High School, was the adjudicator for the final competition and was impressed by the quality of the musicianship of the finalists.
She said Quinn gave a remarkable performance that showed an admirable level of musical maturity.
He played the slow movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 17, Rachmaninoff Prelude Opus 32 No. 12, and the Prelude from Pour le Piano by Debussy.
Le Lievre was presented with the Freemasons District $1500 gold ribbon prize by grandmaster Graham Wrigley and district master Nigel Friggens. He also received the Peter and Valerie Williams Cup, which is awarded to the winner.
Le Lievre studies piano with Jan Beck and passed the ATCL piano recital diploma with distinction last year, when he was also a finalist in the YMY 2020 competition.
He is a year 12 student at Lindisfarne College where he’s been involved in chamber music contests for some years. He also learns trombone with John Snowling and plays in Quintessentially Brass Quintet, plus the school’s symphonic and jazz bands.
Violinist Ivy Wu from Napier was the second place-getter for the second year in a row. She received the Freemasons $750 silver ribbon prize and the Walter and Beryl Gollner Memorial Cup. She studies violin with Marian Stronach and is a student at Napier Girls’ High School.
Another Napier Girls’ High student, pianist Madeline Krebs, also studying with Jan Beck, was third and received $500.
The remaining finalists, pianists Julia Spurgeon and Leo Guo, and drummer Kevin Lu, each received a June Armstrong Memorial Prize of $150 and a Music Works Hastings voucher of $100.
The YMY website youngmusicianshb. wordpress.com has full details.